HYDERABAD: To mark the 38th Eye Donation Fortnight, the LV Prasad Eye Institute has scheduled a series of events from August 25 to September 8. These activities aim to raise public awareness regarding the significance of eye donation and encourage individuals to commit to donating their eyes after their demise.
Dr Sunita Chaurasia, medical director of The Ramayamma International Eye Bank at LVPEI in Hyderabad, highlighted that corneal transplantation remains the sole recognised remedy for corneal blindness, demanding a substantial number of eye donations. Yet, due to a lack of awareness and the prevalence of misconceptions and fears linked with eye donation, these numbers continue to remain relatively low.
The collection of corneas at LVPEI occurs through voluntary contributions from families of the deceased, partner centres, and the Hospital-based Cornea Retrieval Program (HCRP). The success of eye donation hinges on the cooperation of partner hospitals, along with a dedicated team comprising grief counsellors and trained technicians specialising in cornea recovery. Within the HCRP, an eye donation counsellor is stationed at multidisciplinary hospitals, engaging with the families of the deceased to encourage eye donation.
This counsellor assesses the suitability of the deceased based on medical criteria and motivates the family towards eye donation.